The first time Britt saw the girl in the tight, thin dress he knew damn well he was going to have her, or go to hell trying. But he hadn’t reckoned then on the girl’s husband, a sadistic runt of a guy who’d smash in a man’s skull as happily as blink at him. He hadn’t reckoned on Newt, the lecherous, broken man who couldn’t bear to see other men whole. Worst of all he hadn’t reckoned on Ruby, the two-bit floozy who knew every conniving trick of her trade.

By the time he discovered the trap these people were building for themselves – and for him – it was too late, way too late, to get out…

Copyright 1951 by Jack Sheridan. Third Printing, November 1959.

In celebration of the glorious British summer we’ve been having this year, here’s my Gold Medal contribution. I love this cover – as dramatic and storm-tossed as any I’ve seen.

She came to a place of mist and menace – where even kisses tasted of terror… Haunted by a love that could not die but now could kill… Mystery lured her to the old castle, Death would show her the way out…

Foreboding mansions, misty moonlight and the moaning wind… There’s not much better than a night in with your favourite gothic romance is there? Well, imagine having a whole library full of them at your fingertips, delivered right to your door, without any of the hassle of having to find that precious extra shelf space!

Sounds like one of my favourite fantasies, but for those of you living in the good ol’ U.S.of A, this dream is a reality. Kristi Lyn Glass, founder of The Gothic Journal, has sent me some great news regarding the Gothic Romance Lending Library – it has now been re-housed and is looking bigger…

A HOST OF HIDEOUS THINGS – writhing… crawling…some scaled, some slimy, some finned… fashioned from the darkest places of man’s imagination…shaped grotesquely in nightmare forms… and some so horrifying they have no shape at all…

MONSTERS

Corgi Books 1970.

Deformed..

Evil…

Bent on horror and destruction…

Rearing up on horny, gleaming legs…

Growing from the floor in a bulbous, slobbering mass…

Grimacing from a tiger shark’s face…

MONSTERS – Eight tales of terror by A.E Van Vogt.

What amazing artwork – I can only wish my aura is as spectacularly colourful as this cover model’s.

Held on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month the Yard re-opens this month with a suitably spring themed market on Sunday March 11th.

We’re going to be there with lots of horror and vintage pulp to chill the cockles of your heart so please stop by and say hello. Thereafter we will be at the market every second Sunday of the month.

They are always looking for more stalls and are always open to ideas – Bingo….jam stalls….clothes alteration….pet accessories…10 minute massage stalls….pop-up art exhibitions….flower stalls…..The more the merrier and weird is always good!

So whether you’re a potential stallholder or you just want to pop by for a cuppa and a browse, follow the links below for more information.

Diplocks Yard (73 North Road, Brighton) is just a few minutes walk from Brighton Station, is open from 11am to 5pm and is free.

The editor of a monthly crime and detective magazine assigns to two of his staff writers, Sladen and Low, the investigation of the strange disappearance of an unknown showgirl. The disappearance was reported fourteen months earlier, but the trail is cold. The police, with nothing to work on, have lost interest. The assignment doesn’t look hopeful.

However, the investigators start asking questions and almost immediately things begin to happen. Witnesses are murdered, an attempt is made to do away with the investigators. The police once more open the case. The disappearance of the showgirl is found to be only a minor part of a ruthless plot.

Safer Dead has the authentic James Hadley Chase touch, which has deservedly earned him the title ‘Master of the Art of Deception’. It moves with the pace and power of forked lightening.

Robert Hale Ltd. Made and printed in Great Britain by John Gardner (Printers) Ltd. First published 1954. This edition reprinted December 1956.

Another gorgeous James Hadley Chase paperback to compliment I’ll Bury My Dead, included in an earlier post. This cover is illustrated by James Pollack who did the cover on Harley Street Hypnotist, below.